Her brothers had told him that Suzanne was a brilliant software developer who was running into trouble lately and was too trusting for her own good. The research he’d done online had filled in the blanks on just how successful she was. But it was what everyone had left out that knocked Roman sideways.
He’d been with plenty of attractive women, enough that he should have been able to keep himself together tonight. Only, he couldn’t remember the last time a woman had seemed so sweet and so sensual at the same time.
Not to mention as far off-limits as any woman had ever been.
First off, she was his new client, and the boundaries between bodyguard and client were sacrosanct. Second—and equally important—her brothers would kill him for so much as looking at her wrong. And he couldn’t blame them.
The last thing he would want was for a little sister, if he’d had one, to end up with a guy like him.
Throughout the handful of minutes that he’d been talking with Alec and Harry in the gallery, Roman had been silently reminding himself that he was a consummate professional who was trained to shut off his emotions and do his job. Especially when it came to women. He’d never been the slightest bit tempted by one of his female clients, even the ones who had paraded naked in front of him to try to get him to bend his solid-steel rule about maintaining a professional relationship.
By the time he finally let himself look directly at Suzanne, he’d been certain his steel mask was back in place. But then she’d smiled…
One bright, beautiful smile was all it took for the bottom to drop out of his ironclad control.
Taking this job is a bad idea.
The thought had hit him hard, right in the solar plexus. Hard enough that he’d considered bowing out of the job. Unfortunately, that was right when Harry had said, “Suzanne’s safety means everything to us. We can’t thank you enough for doing this.”
He couldn’t let his friends down just because he was awed by her beauty. And he didn’t like the idea of letting her down either. Not when, from everything he’d learned so far, she needed his services more than she wanted to admit.
Right now, however, she was clearly pissed beyond measure. Steam was all but coming out of her ears as she glared at him. Wanting to head a public family argument off at the pass, he suggested, “Why don’t the four of us go somewhere more private to discuss this?”
She all but snarled, “No.” And then she shut him down completely by turning to her brothers. “What the hell are you two thinking? Did you really think you could just up and hire a bodyguard for me and that I’d say, Okay, whatever you think is best, big brothers?”
Roman was impressed by the way she went toe to toe with her brothers. She was no shrinking violet, that was for sure. Still, that didn’t mean that she wasn’t in need of protection. Even the strongest people needed backup sometimes.
Neither Alec nor Harry looked the least bit surprised by her response. And it didn’t look like they were going to back down any time soon either, as Alec said, “We know what’s been happening with the countless calls and the attacks on your servers. Who knows when it will escalate to an attack on you? You’ve got to be smart about this, Suz.”
“Smart?” If Roman thought she’d been furious before, he hadn’t seen the half of it. “You think I’m not being smart?” It was as though Alec had just thrown down the ultimate gauntlet. She poked a finger of each hand into both brothers’ chests. “You’re the ones who are missing brain cells if you think I can’t take care of myself.”
After having worked with Alec’s company a dozen times on security detail for the rich and famous people who rented Alec’s private planes, Roman knew his friend could be a hothead. Despite that, Alec was the first billionaire with whom Roman had ever been friends. He was cocky, but he wasn’t an ass. In fact, he was surprisingly normal, for all his money and family connections with movie stars and pro athletes.
Roman had grown up hanging with the lowest guys on the totem pole. Now, though he’d carved out a lucrative career working for the highest ones, he’d always be a fighter kid from the Bronx. At events like this, he often had to stop himself from tugging at a tie that felt like it was on too tight.
“Suz,” Harry said, looking a little guilty, “we didn’t do this to upset you.”
Roman had first met Harry at one of Alec’s parties a couple of years ago and knew he tended to be more measured in his approach to life than Alec. That didn’t mean he was a wimp, though. On the contrary, Harry had skills he’d learned from his hands-on study of medieval combat that put regular fighters to shame.